Stock Indices Arguably the most famous of all stock indices is the S&P 500, which tracks a selection of large-cap stocks listed on U.S. exchanges across eleven sectors. The index is “market-cap weighted,” meaning larger companies constitute a higher proportion of the index than smaller ones. For example, Apple is the largest publicly-traded company,…
Can The S&P 500 Predict Economic Cycles?
Workshop: Understanding Your Retirement after Chevron
Workshop Details: Location: Chevron Federal Credit Union Address: 250 Industrial Rd., Pascagoula, MS 39581 Time: 11:30 AM Date: May 19th, 2016 We will help answer questions such as: Should I take my pension as a lump sum? How do I protect my assets from Long Term Care Costs? What strategies…
Protect Yourself From Crooked Financial Advisors
Now that Eduardo Diaz, a former Ocean Springs Financial Advisor, plead guilty to financial crimes against his clients, what can the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast take away from this? Many people have questions about the industry and the people in it. Who can I trust? What can I do to protect…
What Can We Gain From All This Pain?
A Rough Start to 2016 The first three weeks of the New Year delivered investors an 11% draw-down in the S&P 500, and many are justifiably concerned that stocks could continue to fall even further. Draw-downs often strain the emotions of long-term investors because the fluctuations in equity prices tends to amplify loss aversion. As…
2015 Recap
It was a frustrating year for many investors. The market as a whole went sideways. Bonds earned around ½% for the year, while the S&P actually lost almost 1%. Cash pays near zero interest at the banks, while many foreign investments and commodities lost significant amounts (China & Oil)
Remaining At Rest In A Room
Ouch The idea behind proper diversification is that when one market struggles, the other(s) step in and offer support. Several conservative investors who closely watched their portfolios in 2015 are now questioning this strategy for very good reason. There was nowhere to run last year, and any return that came close to what would be…
The Impact of a Presidential Election
The Worst Part About My Job Without question, the most annoying and frustrating part of my job as a money manager is following the dysfunction in the U.S. government. I cringe when reading a newspaper or watching a television segment involving politics because I feel as if the incentives of most who service public offices…
An Update on China and the IMF
Over the summer, I wrote a Thought for the Week that discussed the implications of China’s currency getting added to the IMF’s basket of reserve currencies. Given the decision this week by the IMF to approve China and add them to the SDR, I wanted to update my thoughts now that we have more information.
NYSE “Stop Orders” – Good Bye & Good Riddance
They Won’t Be Missed The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) announced this week that it will eliminate “stop orders” as of February 26, 2016. Talk about music to my ears. Before I explain the importance of such a move by the NYSE, let’s walk through the difference between the various order types to get a…